3 weeks before the Boston qualifier.
My confidence hit bottom after the final long run. I ate the last big meal that night and reminded myself that the body always rose to the occasion.
After A2A, I had no distractions in the form of other physical activities. My daily life was anchored by training sessions. Mom had to endure watching her son attempting to remove mass from the under-inflated body.
_endurance sport is 90% mental; the other 10% is also mental
Web was a great source of contradictory information. Runnersworld.com ran an amusing piece "6 Signs You May Have Post-Marathon Syndrome"
• Comparison shopping and minimizing your marathon accomplishment
• Lacking interest in setting a new goal
• Feelings of sadness, pessimism, and worthlessness
• Feeling lost without your training
• Not able to see the light through the fog
• Rounding your marathon time down–"I ran around 5 hours for a 5:55 finish"
Yeah, I had PMS 20 days before the gun. "A" race preparation started 3 months ago. I just need to push through obstacles.
Bathroom scale registered lowest # post-1998. I did not react with the satisfaction of hitting weight goal—“Did I lose muscle?” At that moment I related to a fashion model.
_accelerated training
Feet and calves didn’t feel good after Euro Roll. I shortened the training sessions. I considered backing out of this “A” event. Conventional wisdom said I need to change my goal. But Boston qualifying time was not negotiable.
My volume and intensity caught up to the program 6 weeks later. Somehow I felt less confident than ever. _Run Less Run Faster_ said I needed to do more. I intensified the sessions—knowing full well the risk of insufficient recovery.
_hill challenged
I didn't practice Dolly Parton and its neighboring hills prior to 2011. I assumed I could even-split the 2 miles because I was lazy, cheap, and delusional. After 4 White Rocks in 5 years, I faced up to my inability to recover after climbs. My last 5 long runs included hill repeats.
_crashes
All but 1 indicator said I was on target for a 3:20 marathon finish.
The first crash happened during the recovery between intervals. The left ankle didn’t clear the curb. I assumed I misjudged the distance while mocking with GPS. That added another facial scar to the collections—of all the eyewear I own, I had to use the $5 Home Depot eye protector that night.
Days later, I missed a block in a stream. This was during the warm up. I couldn’t blame fatigue.
Then I tripped over a shallow pothole at end of easy run during taper weeks.
I was disgusted by my weak ankle and the bandage bill. It was kinda cool to see red blood on the other side of Tegaderm. I stared at the overtraining evidence in the eye and went into denial mode—“I am in shape for a 3:20 marathon as long as weather is perfect. I will be aggressive with my pace. I will not back down. This race ain’t about fastest time; it’s about being good enough.”
I stopped riding Ninja to minimize injury risk.
Weight control was on target. I was proud of yet disliked my sunken cheeks. I visualized the big celebratory dinner.”
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Houston Inline Marathon 11-13-2011
4 weeks before my “A” race, I set practical goals for this "D" Race:
1. Injury free.
2. Finish.
3. Save enough for the 16-mile run 2 hours after race.
The drive down south was mostly smooth sailing not requiring the Beltronics. I stopped by a Nike outlet and scored running outfits. It was depressing my legs were now too short for the XS warm up pants.
_Reunion
We stayed at Duane’s; it’s simple, big, and clean. I was envious of the backyard’s function-maintenance ratio.
It was fun visiting Duane’s new life after Dallas. 9-month-old Ace made friend with everyone. I stayed in the room with the track spikes that broke the 24-hour relay record in his running days. It made me think about next 10 years.
_Race
All eyes were on Alex and Rob.
I was relaxed at the start. I went through warm up half heartedly. I was happy Tom was back to racing and hoped to stay with him.
The best way to avoid crash was not skating behind a crashed skater. I started with the pros and got the 2nd spot. No one was fighting for positions. I kept the pace civil and let the lead guy accelerate way. Leading the peloton in a marathon race was a highlight of my life; it felt glorious an absurd.
I let the lead pack go after a few miles; I’d stay with Tom and Duane. The peloton kept slowing down; I stayed in contact. No one wanted to pull, but the young legs were getting antsy. Team Simmons was unconcerned. I thought about a breakaway just for the hell of it—the steep underpass suited my legs.
The pros finally accelerated. Casey had the legs but chose stay with Timo, Tom, Duane, and me. Casey still seemed frustrated from missing A2A after all the Sunday morning Windhaven repeats.
photo by someone good. thanks for the good shot
The lead pack was quickly down to Alex, Rob, and Lawrence. Lawrence was out teammated and got 3rd.
_Brick
2.5 hours after skate, 16-mile run started on hilly pavements of Huntsville State Park.
I went through bad patches and paused at mile 11. Uphill speed bled as expected. Accelerating down the hills was unexpectedly challenging. GPS said I accelerated at mile 15, which didn't agree with my memory.
I worried I trained too hard. I worried I didn’t go hard enough.
Groupon provided big meal at a laughable teppanyaki at Geisha. Thanks to P. F. Chang and Pei Wei, we now understand authenticity is an unnecessary ingredient in ethnic food.
1. Injury free.
2. Finish.
3. Save enough for the 16-mile run 2 hours after race.
The drive down south was mostly smooth sailing not requiring the Beltronics. I stopped by a Nike outlet and scored running outfits. It was depressing my legs were now too short for the XS warm up pants.
_Reunion
We stayed at Duane’s; it’s simple, big, and clean. I was envious of the backyard’s function-maintenance ratio.
It was fun visiting Duane’s new life after Dallas. 9-month-old Ace made friend with everyone. I stayed in the room with the track spikes that broke the 24-hour relay record in his running days. It made me think about next 10 years.
_Race
All eyes were on Alex and Rob.
I was relaxed at the start. I went through warm up half heartedly. I was happy Tom was back to racing and hoped to stay with him.
The best way to avoid crash was not skating behind a crashed skater. I started with the pros and got the 2nd spot. No one was fighting for positions. I kept the pace civil and let the lead guy accelerate way. Leading the peloton in a marathon race was a highlight of my life; it felt glorious an absurd.
I let the lead pack go after a few miles; I’d stay with Tom and Duane. The peloton kept slowing down; I stayed in contact. No one wanted to pull, but the young legs were getting antsy. Team Simmons was unconcerned. I thought about a breakaway just for the hell of it—the steep underpass suited my legs.
The pros finally accelerated. Casey had the legs but chose stay with Timo, Tom, Duane, and me. Casey still seemed frustrated from missing A2A after all the Sunday morning Windhaven repeats.
photo by someone good. thanks for the good shot
The lead pack was quickly down to Alex, Rob, and Lawrence. Lawrence was out teammated and got 3rd.
_Brick
2.5 hours after skate, 16-mile run started on hilly pavements of Huntsville State Park.
I went through bad patches and paused at mile 11. Uphill speed bled as expected. Accelerating down the hills was unexpectedly challenging. GPS said I accelerated at mile 15, which didn't agree with my memory.
I worried I trained too hard. I worried I didn’t go hard enough.
Groupon provided big meal at a laughable teppanyaki at Geisha. Thanks to P. F. Chang and Pei Wei, we now understand authenticity is an unnecessary ingredient in ethnic food.
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